RV Winter Rambling 2006-07

Splish, Splash, Maggie’s taking a Bath…..

I have a life partner who’s a fuss-budget about having a clean motorhome. It means I have to remove my shoes at the door and when we arrive south, Maggie must be washed as soon as possible. It’s absolutely painful for him to see the black sooty lines of dirt descending from the roof. Last year, we took her through one of those big static RV washes at a price of (I get weak and dizzy just thinking about it) - $75 YIKES! I pointed out some of those do-it-yourself by inserting coins facilities but he was forewarned that fussy people (and that he is) could easily spend $75 there. But there’s one more way - - - in the White Pages (a free weekly advertising rag) there are several individuals listing “Mobile RV Wash – We Carry Soft Water”. Young men (generally Mexicans - - - who are very hard-working; don’t believe the ‘lazy’ Mexican stereotype) equip their pickup trucks with large water tanks, hoses and compressors and wash and wax your RV wherever it is even way out in the desert. And the best part - $1 a foot for a wash, which equated to $30 for us “YEAH!” So Fernie chose Carlos indiscriminately and made arrangements for him or his partner to arrive at 9am on Friday morning. We readied Maggie – closed the slides and retracted the jacks and moved her to a spot where the spray wouldn’t affect our neighbours. It was now 9:15 and no Carlos. We phoned him
“It’s 9:15 – when will you be here?”
“We’re on the way.” he answered.
Fifteen minutes later “There he is.” I said as a black water-equipped pickup drove in. I waved him down and told him we’d moved our motorhome and sent him over.
“Are you number 48?” he asked
“No - #26.”
“Oh – I’m here for #48.”
“Aren’t you Carlos?”
“No, I’m Adrian – I don’t know Carlos.”
Fernie said, “If Carlos doesn’t show up, will you do ours after?”
“I’ll be 2 ½ hours” he answered, “#48 wants a wash and wax.”
“I’ll let you know” Fernie said.
So we waited for Carlos – 9:30 – 9:45 – 10:00 – 10:15 – and we phoned again.
“Oh, I’ll call my partner” said Carlos “and I’ll call you right back.”
10:30 – 10:45 – that was it – Fernie went down to #48 and asked Adrian to wash our motorhome when he finished and then called Carlos and said “Cancel it”.
“OK Amigo” Carlos responded not at all worried about losing a customer.
I don’t think they’d ever have arrived.
Twelve noon on the dot, Adrian was ready to start. He did a wonderfully thorough job and Maggie shone like a silver dollar. Fernie chatted to him as he worked and Adrian told how he had a ‘Green Card’ that was good for ten years.
“But my wife – she have a baby and he was born here – in the USA – so he’s an American” he said proudly.
“I have to apply to get my citizenship and so does my wife – it should help that our baby is an American” he said hopefully
Adrian’s wife is a schoolteacher. “She only makes $30,000 a year and she’s educated” he told Fernie “I’ve got no education and I make way more than that.”
“But my Dad – he lives in Somerton too – but he still works in the fields – picking - only $8 an hour – it’s really hard work when you get older” we could tell he was sad for his father “I want him to work for me, but he says he knows ‘picking’”.
“But my grandparents – they’re still in Mexico – I don’t see them very much. At Xmas, it took me more than two hours to cross the border”.
We made sure that we got Adrian’s business card before he left – I’m sure we’ll call him first – next year.

posted by O'Leary @ 9:10 AM